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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


WORLD-ENGLISH: 


THE 


UNIVERSAL    LANGUAGE 


ALEXANDER  MELVILLE  BELL, 

AUTHOR    OF   "VISIBLB   SPEECH,"  *C.,4C. 


New  York  :  London  : 

n.  d.  c.  hodges,  trubner   &   co 

47,    LAFAYETTE    PLACB.  57  AND  59,  LUDGATB  HILL. 


am^ 


Copyright,  1888, 

by 

Alexander  Melville  Bell. 


4 


\\50 


S^\ 


CONTENTS. 


PAR.  PAOK 

Prologue,  5 

Phonetic  Writins^  of  English 5 

Dedication  to  the  Press, 5 

World-English, 7-8 

Fitness  for  Universality, 1.7 

Ordinary  orthography  untouched 2 

Roman  Letters  retained, 4 

Alphabetic  defects  cured, 4 

Duty  of  governments, 5 

Introductory  to  Literary  English, 6 

Two  forms  of  writing  necessary, 6 

World-English  Lettkrs  and  Sounds 8  13 

Twenty-three  unaltered  letters, 8.9,  10 

Sounds  of  the  vowels, 11.  12,  [3 

\  Name-sound  of  L 14,19 

,x  Nine  new  letters  for  unrepresented  consonants,    .      .  15 

^  Three  discarded  letters, 16 

Sounds  of  letters  invariable, 17,  iS 

Forms  of  the  new  letters, 20-27 

Phonetic  memoranda, 28-33 

Alphabet  limited  to  normal  sounds, 34.  35.  36 

World-English  for  children, 37 

World-English  for  foreigners, 38 

English  needs  no  grammatical  change,        ....  39 

Exemplifications  OF  World-English,      ....    15-21,-3,-6,-8,-9 

Reference  Table  of  the  Alphabet, 19 

Note  on  the  Alphabet 20 

English  Sounds, 22 

Universal  Language, 24 

Spelling  Reform, 27 

Phonetic  Rules, 28 

Epilogue, •      .      .  29 


160738 


PROLOGUE. 

CoNDUCTOBS  of  the  Press  have  the  power  of  greatly  facilitating 
the  object  of  this  work,  by  making  it  known  ;  or  of  retarding  it. 
by  simply  ignoring  the  effort.  Opposition  is  not  to  be  looked 
for  from  any  quarter. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  phonetic  writing  of  English  is 
capable  of  an  immense  influence  for  good,  both  at  home, —  in 
our  schools  and  among  the  illiterate — and  abroad,  by  world-wide 
diffusion  of  intellectual  benefits  through  practical  acquaintance 
with  the  English  language.  The  Press  can  determine  whether 
this  popular  installation  of  "  World-English "  shall  be  imme- 
diately successful,  or  whether  it  must  force  its  slow  way  against 
the  impediment  of  mere  inertia. 

To  the  Press,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  this  Work  is  dedi- 
cated, in  hope  that  enlightened  "  periodical  "  assistance  will  not 
be  wanting  for  public  good. 


WORLD -ENGLISH. 


(i)  No  language  could  be  invented  for  International  use  that 
would  surpass  English,  in  grammatical  simplicity,  and  in  general 
fitness  to  become  the  tongue  of  the  World.  The  only  drawback 
to  extension  of  English  has  been  its  difficult  and  unsystematic 
spelling.  This  is,  however,  established  in  its  literature  ;  and  any 
attempt  tP  remodel  the  general  orthography  of  the  language  would 
fail  to  have  the  slightest  hope  of  success.  But  such  alteration  is 
not  necessary.  A  way  is  open  by  which  orthographic  obstacles 
in  the  path  of  learners  may  be  removed. 

(2)  In  the  scheme  herein  presented  the  spelling  of  what  may 
now  be  called  "Literary  English"  is  left  absolutely  untouched. 
''World-English  "  offers  a  ft-ee  field  for  all  needed  improvements. 
National  reverence  for  the  glorious  associations  with  the  forms  of 
our  words  will  not,  therefore,  interfere  with  univei'sal  difilision 
of  the  words  themselves. 

(3)  English  is  mother-tongue  to  rapidly  increasing  millions,  in 
both  hemispheres  ;  and  some  knowledge  of  the  language  is  de- 
manded by  all  educated  populations  on  the  globe.  Social  and 
commercial  necessities  require  that  the  acquisition  of  this  knowl- 
edge shall  be  facilitated  "by  removal  of  every  impediment. 

(4)  The  Ronian  alphabet — although  both  redundant  and  in- 
complete— established  as  it  is,  cannot  be  displaced.  But,  for  pop- 
ular purposes,  it  must  be  cured  of  its  defects.  With  superfluous 
letters  discarded,  and  new  letters  introduced  for  unrepresented 
sounds,  the  anomalies  which  alone  have  made  English  difficult 
to  learners,  will  disappear,  and  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  lan- 
guage will  become  fully  apparent. 


8 

(5)  The  Governments  of  English-speaking  nations  have  a  duty 
to  perform  in  tliis  matter.  Let  them  give  recognition  to  the 
amended  scheme  of  letters,  introduce  it  in  primary  schools,  and 
— through  their  various  agencies — spread  abroad  the  means  of 
teaching  this  unrivaled  speech  to  every  People. 

(6)  World-English  is  designed  to  be  as  little  unlike  Literary 
English  as  possible,  so  that  the  former  may  be  used  in  schools  as 
an  introduction  to  the  latter.  This  is  very  important ;  for,  in  or- 
der to  leave  present  orthography  undisturbed,  a  simpler  mode  of 
w^riting  is  absolutely  necessary  for  beginners.  Two  forms  of  tlie 
written  language  must  thus  be  equally  acknowledged  ;  one  for 
lower  classes  of  scholars,  the  other  for  higher  classes.  World- 
English  is  the  initiatory  ioxva^  from  which  pupils  will  be  graded, 
in  due  course,  into  the  literary  form. 

(7)  But  World-English  has  also  a  wider  applicability.  It  as- 
pires, in  fact,  to  be,  by  natural  adaptation,  THE  UNIVERSAL 
LANGUAGE, — for  which  vague  desires  have  long  been  enter- 
tained, although,  hitherto,  only  futile  efforts  have  been  made. 
World-English,  thus,  supplies  a  convenient  method  for  teaching 
children  and  illiterate  adults  to  read  ;  while  it  furnishes,  besides, 
a  simple  and  all-sufficient  permanent  form  of  the  language,  for 
non-scholastic  learners,  and  for  foreigners  throughout  the  world. 


World-English  Letters  and  Sounds. 

Old  Letters  Retained. 

(8)  The  *  following  seventeen  Consonant  letters,  associated 
with  their  customary  sounds,  are  retained  in  tlie  World-English 
alphabet : 

b,  d,  f,  h,  j,  k,  1,  m,  n,  p,  r,  s,  t,  v,  w,  y,  z. 


9 

(9)  The  following  Consonant  letter  is  now  associated  with  a 
Hxed  sound  instead  of  with  fluctuating  sounds : 

g,     as  in  go. 

(10)  The  five  Vowel  letters  are  now  associated  with  Hxed  in- 
stead of  fluctuating  sounds  : 

a,     as  in  an. 
e,     as  in  ell. 
i,      as  in  in. 
o,     as  in  on. 
u,     as  in  up. 
(ii)  The  following  four  of  the  vowel  letters, — discriminated 
by  the  mark  [-]  — denote  the  •'  long"  sounds  of  the  letters  : 
a,     as  in  ale. 
e,     as  in  eel. 

0,  as  in  old. 

u,     as  in  rude,  too,  &c. 
(13)   The  following  four  letters, — discriminated  by  the  mark 
[.] — denote  specific  vowel  sounds: 
a,     as  in  ask. 
e,     as  in  err.     ^(tYJv<, 
6,     as  in  ore. 
u,     as  in  pull,  to,  &c. 

(13)  The  following  letter, — discriminated  by  the  mark  [••] — 
denotes  a  specific  vowel  sound  : 

a,     as  in  air. 

jYezv  Letters. 

(14)  The  following  modification  of  the  letter  i  is  introduced 
for  the  "•  long"  sound  of  1  :    [vSce  j^ar.  19. J 

1,  as  in  isle. 

(15)  The  following  nine  new  Consonant  letters  have  been  added 
for  sounds  hitherto  unrepresented  in  the  alphabet :  [See  par.  20, 
-3-^7-] 


10 

q  cli,     as  in  church. 

^  sh,     in  she  ;    [ci  in  social,  ti  in  nation,  .^c] 

^  [zh]  ;  s,  in  pleasure,     z,  in  azure,     g,  in  rouge. 

^  th,     in  thin. 

4  [dh],     th,  in  then. 

\y  vvli,     in  when. 

14  [yh],     h,  in  hue. 

g  ng,     in  sing,  [n,  in  ink,  finger,  &c.] 

"1  r,     when  not  before  a  vowel. 

Discai-ded  Letters. 

(16)  The  following  three  letters  have  been  discarded  from  the 
alphabet :  * 

c,     because  having  the  same  sound  as  k,  or  s. 

q,     because  having  the  same  sound  as  k. 

X,     because  having  the  same  sounds  as  ks,  or  gz. 

Sounds  of  the  Letters. 

(17)  In  this  Alphabetical  Scheme  ten  of  the  letters  are  slightly 
modified  forms  of  ordinary  letters,  and  twenty-three  are  altogether 
unaltered.  The  latter  have  the  same  phonetic  values  in  World- 
English  as  in  Literary  English  ;  with  this  important  distinction 
that  the  sound  associated  with  any  letter  never  varies,  while,  in 
Literary  English,  the  sounds  of  the  greater  number  of  the  letters 
are  constantly  varying.  In  World-English  every  sound  has  one 
fixed  representative  ;  and  every  letter  has  one  fixed  sound. 

(18)  The  five  vowel  letters  a,  e,  i,  o,  u,  represent  the  most  usual 
sounds  of  these  letters  ;  and  the  other  sounds  of  the  same  letters 
are  distinguished  by  customary  marks. 

(19)  The  letter  i  being  inconveniently  narrow  to  carry  the  sign 
of  a  "  long"  sound  [-]  an  elongated  form  of  the  letter  is  used 
for  the  name-sound  of  I.     [See  par.  14.] 

♦  The  discarded  letters  are,  of  course,  available  for  foreign  sounds. 


11 

Forms  of  the  New  Letters. 

(20)  In  devising  the  forms  of  the  new  letters,  the  aim  has  been 
to  combine  suggestiveness  with  simplicity.  These  letters  perform 
a  grand  service  in  World-English.  The  first  six  of  the  new  con- 
sonant letters  uniformly  add  a  short  line  to  the  ordinary  forms 
of  c,  s,  z,  t,  d,  w  ;  thus  showing  the  relation  of  the  new  letters 
to  the  old  orthography,  in  which  the  letter  h  stands  for  the  short 
line;  as  in  ch,  sh,  zh,  th,  dh,  wh. 

(21)  The  discarded  letter  c  might  have  been  used  instead  of  the 
first  new  letter,  but  for  the  violence  it  would  have  done  to  old  as- 
sociations, in  such  combinations  as  nacun,  vicus,  for  nation,  vicious. 

(22)  The  Greek  "  theta,"  or  the  Anglo-Saxon  character  for  th, 
might  have  been  used  instead  of  the  fourth  new  letter  ;  but  the 
principle  on  which  the  other  letters  are  formed  furnishes,  in  ^,  a 
character  of  extreme  simplicity,  and  one  which  harmonizes  better 
with  the  rest  of  the  alphabet. 

(23)  The  fifth  new  letter  [c}]  shows  that  the  relation  of  its 
sound  to  that  of  the  preceding  is  the  same  as  that  of  d  to  t. 

(24)  The  sound  of  the  sixth  wqw  letter  [\)']  is  simply  a  non- 
vocal  w,  and  not  a  combination  of  h  and  w,  as  the  old  orthog- 
raphy erroneously  suggests. 

(25)  The  sound  of  the  seventh  new  letter  [ij]  is  a  non-vocal  y. 

(26)  The  eighth  new  letter  [g]  combines  the  commencement 
of  an  n  with  the  termination  of  a  g,  and  thus  fitly  represents  the 
established  sound  of  ng. 

(27)  The  ninth  new  letter  [1]  is  necessary  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  Consonant  sound,  and  the  more  common  non-conso- 
nantal sound  of  the  letter  r.  The  consonant  (r)  is  heard  only 
before  a  vowel. 

Phonetic  Memoranda. 

(28)  The  sound  of  the  letter  U,  as  in  *•'  use,"  is  written,  as  it  is 
pronounced,  with  initial  Y  [yu]. 


12 

(29)  Y  and  W,  which  in  Literary  English  are  very  frequently 
employed  as  auxiliary  Vowel-signs,  ai-e  never  so  used  in  World- 
English.  These  letters  invariably  stand  for  their  Consonant 
sounds,  as  heard  in  "  yes  "  and  "  w^ay." 

(30)  The  diphthong  ia  "  out,"  '■  now,"  &c.,  is  composed  of  the 
sounds  of  a  and  u.      [See  par.  12.] 

(31)  The  diphthong  in  "  oil,"  "  boy,"  &c.,  is  composed  of  the 
sounds  of  o  and  i.      [See  par.  10.] 

(32)  The  indefinite  sound  of  unaccented  a,  as  in  a,  sofa,  alone, 
does  not  require  any  special  mark  to  distinguish  it  from  a.  [See 
''  unaccented  vowels,"  p.  23.] 

(33)  The  forms  of  the  physiological  symbols  of  ''  Visible 
Speech  "  have  not  been  drawn  on  to  fill  the  gaps  in  the  Roman 
alphabet ;  for  the  reason  that  every  part  of  every  symbol  in  that 
system  is  significant,  and  the  characters,  if  borrowed,  could  not 
have  carried  with  them  their  full  meaning. 

Object  of  the   World- English  Alphabet. 

(34)  The  reader  will  observe  that  this  scheme  of  letters  is  in- 
tended merely  to  facilitate  English  reading.  For  this  purpose 
common  letters  are  utilized  to  the  greatest  possible  extent.  The 
alphabet  is  limited  to  the  elements  of  normal  pronunciation.  The 
sounds,  for  example,  of  a,  in  an,  ale,  air,  ask,  father,  may  not 
have  exactly  the  same  quality  in  the  utterance  of  all  speakers. 
But  for  practical  purposes  these  differences  arc  disregarded. 

(35)  If  we  wanted  to  show  the  Anglican  pronunciation  of 
such  words  as  "  various,  experience,  glorious,"  we  must  write  a 
sound  which  is  unrepresented  in  common  orthography ;  thus : 
"  vairius,  ekspeiriens,  gloirius  ;"  but  the  words  would  be  no 
longer  the  same  to  all  readers  ;  whereas  normal  pronunciation  will 
be  denoted  for  every  reader  by  the  writing  "  varius,  eksperiens, 
glorius." 


13 

(36)  So,  too,  difierent  speakers  will  pronounce  the  letter  ; 
(I)  with  diverse  shades  of  sound;  but  to  readers  of  World- 
English  the  effect  is  simply  "■  name-sound  of  I,"  however  vari- 
ously it  may  be  uttered. 

Advantages  of  the   World-English  Alphabet. 

(37)  Children  and  illiterate  persons  will  be  very  readily  taught 
to  read  from  the  new  orthography  ;  and  they  will  afterwards 
make  transition  to  reading  from  Literary  English  almost  uncon- 
sciously. A  phonetic  iiiitiati(Mi — so  far  from  being  a  hindrance — 
has  been  proved  to  be  a  great  assistance  in  forming  the  visual  mem- 
ory for  spelling.  The  diflcrence  in  appearance  of  a  word  in 
common  orthography  from  that  in  its  phonetic  writing  fixes  its 
outline  in  the  reader's  mind  :  the  word  becomes  a  picture,  and 
is  remembered  as  a  whole.  Spelling  is  thus  always  learned  by 
eye,  rather  than  by  rule. 

(38)  To  foreigners,  World-English  offers  great  advantages,  for 
after  merely  elementary  sounds  have  been  learned  from  the  voice 
of  a  speaker,  a  student,  of  whatever  nationality,  will  master  a 
correct  English  utterance  from  the  writing. 

English  Adapted  for  Uttiversality. 

(39)  English  does  not  require  any  alteration  in  grammar  or 
construction  to  adapt  it  for  its  great  function  of  universality. 
Should  the  critical  reader  discover  any  particulars  in  which 
change  might  be  improvement,  the  points  could  be  embodied 
in  future  text-books.  Communications  on  this  subject  will  be 
welcomed. 

Illustrations. 

(40)  The  following  illustrations  exemplify  World  -  English 
typography,  and,  at  the  same  time,  furnish  a  test  of  its  spontane- 
ous intelligibility  to  readers  of  ordinary  English. 


14 

(41)  The  illustrations  will,  no  doubt,  be  deciphered  without 
difficulty;  and  the  reader  will,  it  is  hoped,  become  increasingly 
sensible  of  prospective  benefits  from  this  mode  of  presenting  his 
language — to  school  children — to  the  masses  who  cannot  attend 
school — and  to  the  multitudes  eager  to  learn  English,  in  foreign 
countries.  Happily,  he  may,  further,  be  disposed  to  cooperate  in 
propagating  the  method  within  the  sphere  of  his  influence.  A 
widely  awakened  interest,  and  a  philanthropic  spirit,  may  both 
be  reasonably  expected. 

(42)  As  the  reader's  knowledge  of  Literary  English  enables 
him  to  understand  this  phonetic  form  of  the  language,  so  will  a 
knowledge  of  World-English  be  found  to  facilitate  the  reading 
of  Literary  English,  by  foreign  and  other  students. 


15 

EXEMPLIFICATIONS  OF  WORLD-EXGLISH. 

[Accent  is  always  on  the  first  syllable,  unless  otherwise  ex. 
pressed.  The  accent  mark  is  placed  after  the  accented  vowel. 
Capital  letters  are  not  used  in  these  illustrations.] 


numbeiz 

daz  and 

mun^s 

wun 

ele'vn 

^eiti 

sunda 

april 

tu 

twelv 

foiti 

1     munda 

ma 

^re 

l^eiten 

fifti 

tvuzda 

jun 

foi 

foiten 

siksti 

wenzda 

jull> 

fiv 

fiften 

sevnti 

^uizda 

ogust 

siks 

siksten 

ati 

;     fr^da 

septe'mbei 

sevn 

sevnten 

njnti 

satu-ida 

okt5'bei 

at 

aten 

hundred 

1     januan 

nove'mbei 

np 

npten 

^aiizand 

!     februari 

dese'mbei 

ten 

i 

twenti 

milyun 

I     maiq 

prolog. 

kondu'ktoiz  ov  ^i  pres  hav  <\i  paiir  ov  gratli  fasi'litatig  ^i 
objekt  ov  4is  wuik,  bj  makig  it  non,  or  ov  retaWdig  it,  bj  simpli 
igno'rig  4i  efoit.  opozi'gun  iz  not  tu  be  lukt  foi  from  eni 
kwoitei. 

4en  kan  be  no  daiit  (\at  fone'tik  rjtig  ov  igglip  iz  kapabl  ov  an 
ime'ns  infliiens  fon  gud,  bo^  at  hom — in  aiii  skulz  and  amu'g  4i 
ili'terat — and  abro'd,  h\  wuild-wid  difyu'^un  ov  intele'ktyiial  ben- 
ifits,  ^rii  praktikal  akwa'ntans  wi^  4^  isgli^  1^8?^^-  4^  P^es 
kan  dete'imin  \ye4ei  4is  popyiilar  instola'^un  ov  wuild-iggli^  §al 
be  ime'diatli  sukse'sful,  oi  %ye4er  it  must  fois  its  slo  wa  age'nst 
4i  impe'diment  ov  mer  ine'igya. 

tii  4i  pres,  on  bo^  s^dz  ov  4i  atla'ntik,  4is  wuik  iz  dedikated, 
in  hop  4at  enli'tnd  '*  perio'dikal "  asi'stans  wil  not  be  wontig  foi 
publik  gud. 


wmld-igglig. 

no  laggwij  kud  be  inve^nted  for  intetna'gunal  yus  4^t  wud 
suipa's  igglig  in  grama'tikal  simpli'siti  and  in  jeneral  fitnes  tu 
beku'm  4i  tug  ov  4i  wuild.  ^i  onli  drobak  tii  ekste'ngun 
ov  igglig  haz  bin  its  difikult  and  unsistema'tik  spelig.  4is  iz, 

haue'vei,  esta'bligt  in  its  literityui,  and  eni  ate'mt  tu  remo'del  4i 
jeneral  o-i^o'grafi  ov  4i  l^Sgwij  wiid  f al  tu  hav  4i  sl^test  hop  ov 
sukse's.  but  suq  oltera'^un  iz  not  nesesari.  a  wa  iz  open  b^ 

\yiq  oi^ogra'fik  obstaklz  in  4i  p^\  ov  lemeiz  ma  be  remu'vd.  in 
4i  skem  herin  preze'nted,  4i  spelig  ov  \yot  ma  nau  be  kold  "  lit- 
erari  igglig  "  iz  left  absolyiitli  untu'qt.  wuild-igglig  ofeiz  a  fre 
feld  for  61  neded  impru'vments.  nagunal  reverens  foi  4i  glorius 
asogia'gunz  wi4  4^  foimz  ov  aui  w^uidz  wil  not,  4e^fbi,  inteife'i 
wi4  yunive'isal  difyii'^un  ov  4i  vvuidz  4emse'lvz. 

igglig  iz  mu4ei-tug  tii  rapidli  inkre'sig  milyunz  in  bo^  hemis- 
feiz  ;  and  sum  nolij  ov  4i  laggwij  iz  dema'nded  bj  61  edyukated 
popyula'gunz  on  4i  glob.  sogal  and  komeigal  nese'sitiz  rekw^i'i 
4at  4is  nollj  gal  be  fasi'litated  b^  remu'val  ov  everi  impe'diment. 

4i  roman  alfabet — 0I40'  bo^  redu'ndant  and  inkomple't — esta'b- 
ligt  az  it  iz  kanot  be  displa'st.  but  foi  popyiila'^i  puipusiz  it  must 
be  kyuid  ov  its  defe'kts.  w^i4  syupe'ifluus  leteiz  diska'ided,  and 
nyii  leteiz  introdyii'st  for  unrepreze'nted  saundz,  4i  ano'maliz  ^yiq 
alo'n  hav  mad  igglig  difikult  tu  le-ineiz,  vv^il  disape'i,  and  4i  byuti- 
ful  simpli'siti  ov  4i  laggwij  wil  beku'm  fiilli  apii'rent. 

41  guveinments  ov  igglig-spekig  nagunz  hav  a  dyuti  tii  peifo'im 
in  4is  matei.  let  (\em  giv  rekogni'gun*  tii  4i  arae'nded  skem  ov 
leteiz,  introdyu's  it  in  prjmari  skulz,  and — ^ru  4ei  varius  ajensiz — 
spred  abro'd  4i  «nenz  ov  teqig  4is  unri'vald  speq  tii  everi  pepl. 

wuild-igglig  iz  desj'nd  tu  be  az  litl  unl^'k  literari  igglig  az 
posibl,  so  c\cit  (\i  foimei  ma  be  yuzd  in  skulz  az  an  introdu'kgun 
tu  4i  latei.         4'^  i^  veri  important ;  foi,  in  oidei  tii  lev  prezent 


17 

oi^o'grafi  undistu4bd,  a  simpler  mod  ov  ritip  iz  absolyiitli  nes- 
esari  foi  begi'nenz.  tu  foimz  ov  c}i  ritn  laqgwij  must  ejus  be 
ekwoli  akno'lijd :  wun  foi  loei  klasiz  ov  skolaiz,  c\\  ucjei  foi 
h\c^   klasiz.  wmld-irjglip    iz    c}i    ini',syatori   foim,   from    \yiq 

pyupilz  wil  be  graded,  in  dyii  k6is,  intii  (ji  literari  fo'im. 

but  wuild  iygHjS  has  olso  a  Wjcler  aplikabi'liti.  it  aspj'-iz,  in 

fakt,  tu  be,  bj  natyural  adapta'^un,  4i  yunive'isal  laygwij,  foi  \yiq 
vag  dezi''iz  hav  log  bin  ente-ita'nd,  0I40',  hicjeitu,  onli  fyutil 
efoits   hav  bin  mad.  wuild-igglip,  ejus,  suplj'z  a  konve'nient 

me^ud  fon  teqig  qildren  and  ili'terat  adu'lts  tu  red  :  vyjl  it  fuinijiez, 
besjdz,  a  simpl  and  61-sufi'jicnt  peimanent  foim  ov  (Ji  l^Sgvvij, 
fon  non-skola'stik  leineiz  and  foi  forineiz  ^rua'ut  <\i  wuild. 

4i  redei  wil  obze'iv  4^1^  4is  skem  ov  leteiz  is  inte'nded  meili  tii 
fasi'litat  iggli^  redig.  foi  4'''  punpus  komun  leteiz  ai  yutiljzd 

tu  4i  gi'atest  posibl  ekste'nt.  (.{i  alfabet  iz  limited  tii  eliments 

ov  noimal  pronunsia'^un.  (\i  saundz,  for  egzampl,  ov  a,  in 
an,  al,  iii,  ask,  fa4ei,  ma  not  hav  egza'ktli  4i  sam  kwoliti  in  4i 
uterans  ov  61  spekeiz,  but  foi  praktikal  puipusiz  (\ez  diferensiz 
ai  disregarded. 

if  we  wonted  tu  go  4i  agglikan  pronunsia'^un  ov  suq  wuidz  az 
"  various,  experience,  glorious,"  we  must  r^t  a  saund  \yiq  iz 
unrepreze'nted  in  komun  0-1^0'grafi:  4us  "  vairius,  ekspe'iriens, 
gloirius  "  ;  but  (\i  wuidz  wild  be  no  loggei  4i  sam  tu  61  redeiz  ; 
\yara'z  noimal  pronunsia'^sun  wil  be  deno'ted  for  everi  redei  b| 
rjtig  "vjirius.  ekspe'riens.  glorius." 

so,  tu,  diferent  spekeiz  wil  prona'uns  4i  leter  j  (I)  wi4  djvers 
gadz  ov  saund  ;  but  tii  redeiz  ov  wuild-igglig  4i  efe'kt  iz  simpli 
"  nam-saund  ov  I"  haue'vei  viiriusli  it  ma  be  uteid. 

qildren  and  ili'terat  peisunz  wil  be  veri  redili  tot  tii  red  from 
4i  nyu  oil^o'grafi,  and  4^  wil  afteiwoidz  mak  transi'^un  tu  redig 
from  literari  igglig  61m6st  unko'n,susli.  a  fone'tik  inigia'gun — 

so  fai  from  beig  a  hindrans — haz  bin  pruvd  tu  be  a  grat  asi'stans 
in  foimig  4'  vi/jUal  memori  foi  spelig.  4'  diferens  in  ape'rans 


18 

ov  a  wuid  in  komun  oi^o'grafi  from  4at  in  its  fone'tik  ritig  fiksez 
its  autlp  in  c[[  redei'z  mind :  eq  wuid  beku'mz  a  piktyiii,  and  iz 
reme'mbeid  az  a  hoi.  spelig  iz  ejus  olwaz  leind  bj  i,  ra.4e"i  4^n 
h\  rul. 

tu  forineiz  wuild-igglig  ofeiz  grat  adva'ntijiz  ;  fo-i,  aftei  meili 
elime'ntari  saiindz  hav  bin  leind  from  4i  vois  ov  a  spekei,  a 
styudent,  ov  xyote'vei  na^una'liti,  wil  master  a  kore'kt  igglig 
uterans  from  4i  I'ltig. 

igglip  duz  not  rekw^i'r  eni  oltera'^un  in  gramar  oi  konstru'k^un 
tu  ada'pt  it  for  its  grat  fugk^^un  ov  yuniversa'liti.  giid  4i  kriti- 

kal  redei  disku'vei  eni  paiti'kyulaiz  in  ^yiq  qanj  m^t  be  impru'v- 
ment,  4i  points  kiid  be  embo'did  in  fyvitym  tekst-buks.  kom- 

yunika'^unz  on  4is  subjekt  wil  be  welkumd. 

4i  rede^  haz,  no  daut,  az  anti'sipated,  desj'feid  dez  ilustra'gunz 
vv^i4a'ut  difiknlti.  he   wil   olso,    it   iz   hopt,   hav  beku'm   in- 

ki'e'sigli  sensibl  ov  prospe'ktiv  benifits  from  4is  mod  ov  pre- 
ze'ntig  hiz  laggwij, — tii  skiil-qildren, — tu  4^  masiz  hu  kanot 
ate'nd  skul, — and  tu  4^  multityudz  egei  tu  lein  iggli^s,  in  forin 
kuntriz.  hapili,   he  ma,  fui4ei,  be  dispo'zd   tu  koo'perat  in 

propagatig  4i  rne^ud  wi4i'n  4i  sfer  ov  hiz   influens.  a  wjdli 

awa'kend  interest  and  a  filan^ro'pik  spirit  ma  bo^  be  rezunabli 
ekspe'kted. 

az  4i  redei'z  nolij  ov  literari  igglif  ena'blz  him  tu  understa'nd 
4is  fone'tik  rjtig,  so  wil  a  nolij  ov  wuild-igglig  be  faund  tu 
fasi'litat  4i  redig  ov  literari  igglig  bj  form  and  u4er  styudents. 


19 


REFERENCE  TABLE  OF  THE 
WORLD-ENGLISH  ALPHABET. 


Consonants. 


Name. 

Name. 

Name. 

Name. 

k     .      .      .       ka 

t     .     .   te 

,s(sh)   .     .      .     ip 

p        .       .       . 

.     pe 

g    •      ■      •       ga 

d   .      .  de 

b       .      .      . 

.     be 

S ("g)     •       'S 

n   .      .en 

7^  (zh)  .      .      .     i^ 

m      .      .      . 

.    em 

V  (wj,  or)       jii 

1     .      .    el 

^  (th)  [thin]        i^ 

f       .      .      . 

ef 

q  (yh)  [hue]  qu 

1  (err)  ei 

4  (dh)  [then]    icj 

V       .       .       . 

ve 

h  (aitch,  or)   ha 

r  (ra_y)  ra 

q(tp)   .      .      .     qe 

w  (double  U, 

or)  we 

s     .     .  es 

j(d^)    .      .      .      ja 

\y  (wh) 

.    ^ya 

z     .     .  ze 

Vowels. 


an 
ell 
ill 
on 
up 


.     ale 

.     eel 

.    isle 

.     .     old 

rude,  too 


ask 
err 


ore 
poor,  pull,  to 


S   .      .   ah,  arm,  alms  ■  6 


all 


au 


out 


oil 


Script  Forms  of  the  New  Letters. 


giiq^^l^        4q\y 


Capital  Forms  of  the  New  Letters. 


IHSZTD€W 


*  The  sounds  of  g  and  i   never  occur  at  the  beginning  of  a  word,    in 
English,  and  these  letters,  therefore,  require  no  capitals. 


NOTE  ON  THE  ALPHABET. 

Many  schemes  of  phonetic  letters  have  been  at  various  times 
proposed,  but  generally  with  the  hopeless  object  of  reforming 
ordinary  spelling.  Minor  orthographic  changes,  such  as  omis- 
sion of  silent  letters,  may  meet  with  but  little  opposition,  but 
a  complete  removal  of  the  anomalies  of  English  writing  would 
have  the  effect  of  antiquating  our  entire  literature  and  would  be 
universally  resisted.  No  system — strange  to  say  while  the  want 
is  a  crying  necessity  ! — has  yet  come  into  general  use  for  the  sep- 
arate purpose  of  teaching  children  to  read.  This  alphabet  is 
preeminently  adapted  for  the  work.  Its  power  to  teach  words, 
as  they  are  spoken^  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired  ;  and  the  resem- 
blance of  the  words  to  those  of  Literary  English  secures  the  easy 
acquirement  of  the  latter  through  the  former.  This  method 
should  be  made  the  basis  of  primary  instruction  in  schools ; 
and  no  other  form  of  letters  should  be  presented  until  perfect 
facility  in  reading  has  been  attained.  Pupils  will  then  need  little 
or  no  help  in  transferring  their  power  of  reading  to  the  literary 
form  of  the  language.  Let  primers  and  early  reading  books 
now  in  use  be  reprinted  in  the  amended  alphabet,  and  this  great 
educational  reform — affecting  only  beginners  at  first — will  be  at 
once  established,  without  the  slightest  difficulty. 

Practical  utility,  in  connection  with  English,  has  been  the  sole 
aim  in  this  alphabetic  arrangement.  The  letters  ]  and  j,  for 
example,  represent  compound  sounds,  because  the  associations 
are  already  fixed  in  English  usage.  Consistency  required  that 
the  organic  correspondent  of  j*  should  likewise  be  represented  in 
the  alphabet.  Hence  the  new  letter  q.  Students  of  phonetics, 
who  prefer  to  write  all   compounds   analytically,    have   only   to 


*  The  sounds  of  j  and  c  are  produced  by  the  same  organic  actions,  the 
difference  being  that  j  is  vocal,  and  q  non-vocal. 


21 

substitute  ai  for  i,  d/^  for  j,  and  tj;  for  q,  in  order  to  fit  the 
alphabet  for  their  use.  The  popular  purpose  of  this  work  is 
better  served  by  the  plan  adopted,  because  it  preserves  a  greater 
likeness  between  the  orthographies  of  World-English  and  Lit- 
erary English. 

The  letter  x  has  not  been  retained  in  the  alphabet,  because  its 
sound  is  not  uniform — like  that  of  j — but  is  sometimes  ks,  and 
sometimes  gz. 

not  on  c}i  alfabet. 

meni  skemz  ov  fone'tik  leteiz  hav  bin  at  varius  t^mz  pr6p5'zd, 
but  jenerali  wicj  4i  hoples  objekt  ov  refo'tmig  oidinari  spelig. 
mjnor  on^ogra'fik  qanjiz,  suq  az  omi'gun  ov  s]lent  leteiz,  ma  met 
wicj  but  litl  opozi'pun,  but  a  komple't  remu'val  ov  cji  ano'maliz  ov 
igglig  rjtig  wud  hav  (\i  efe'kt  ov  antikwatig  aiir  enti'i  literityui, 
and  wiid  be  yunive'isali  rezi'sted.  no  sistem — stranj  tu  sa,  \yil 
(\i  wont  iz  a  kqig  nese'siti ! — haz  yet  kum  intii  jeneral  yus  foi  4i 
separat  puipus  ov  teqig  qlldren  tu  red.  ^is  alfabet  iz  pree'mi- 
nentli  ada'pted  foi  4i  vvuik,  its  paui  tu  teq  wuidz  az  c|a  ai 
spoken  levz  nul^ig  tii  be  dez^'id  ;  and  cji  reze'mblans  ov  4i  wuidz 
tu  4oz  ov  literari  iggli^  sekyuSz  4i  ezi  akwi'iment  ov  4i  latei  ^ru 
41  foimei.  4is  me^ud  giid  be  mad  4i  basis  ov  prjmari  in- 
stru'kgun  in  skulz  ;  and  no  u4e'i  foim  ov  leteiz  gud  be  preze'nted 
unti'l  peifekt  fasi'liti  in  redig  haz  bin  ata'nd.  pyiipilz  wil  ^en 

ned  litl  01  no  help  in  transfe'rig  4ei  paiir  ov  redig  tu  4i  literari 
foim  ov  4i  l^ggwij.  let  primeiz  and  eili  redig-buks  nau  in 
yus  be  repri'nted  in  4i  ame'ndcd  alfabet,  and  4is  grat  edyuka'gunal 
refo'im — afe'ktig  onli  begi'neiz  at  fenst — wil  be  at  wuns  esta'blijSt 
wi4a'ut  4i  slitest  difikulti. 

praktikal  yuti'liti  in  kone'kgun  wi4  iggli?  haz  bin  4i  sol  am  in 
4is  alfabe'tik  ara'njment.  4^  leteiz  i  and  j,  for  egza'mpl,  rep- 

reze'nt  kompaund  saimdz,  beko'z  4i  asogia'gunz  ^r  olre'di  fikst  in 
igglig  yuzij.  konsi'stensi  rekwj'id  4at  4i  oiga'nik  korispo'ndent 
ov  j  gud  Ijkwiz  be   repreze'nted  in  4i   alfabet.         hens   4i   "yi^ 


22 

letei  q.  styudents  ov  fone'tiks,  hu  prefe'i  tii  rjt  61  kompaundz 
anali'tikali,  hav  onli  tii  substityiit  ai  for  \,  d^  foi  j,  and  t^s  foi  q, 
in  oide-i  tu  fit  4i  alfabet  foi  (^Ih  yus.  c}i  popyiilai  puipus  ov 

(Jis  wuik  iz  betei  seivd  h\  4i  plan  ado'pted,  beko'z  it  prezeSvz  a 
gratei  l^knes  betwe'n  c[[  oi^o'grafiz  ov  wuild-iggli^  and  literari 

English  Sounds. 

The  sounds  of  the  English  language  have  been  supposed  to  be 
difficult  of  enunciation.  The  only  basis  for  this  idea  is  the  fact 
that  the  sounds  are  difficult  of  recognition  under  the  fluctuating 
guise  of  orthography.  Thus,  at  sight  of  an  unfamiliar  word, 
even  a  practised  reader  is  uncertain  how  to  pronounce  it ;  because 
the  same  combinations  of  letters  have  many  different  sounds  in 
familiar  words.  To  a  foreign  learner  this  difficulty  is  insuper- 
able. Give  definite  and  certain  phonetic  values  to  letters,  and 
English  utterance  will  be  found  to  be,  in  no  case,  and  in  no  de- 
gree, difficult  to  native  or  foreigner. 

Enunciation  of  English  is,  on  the  contrary,  in  comparison  with 
that  of  other  languages,  organically  easy.  Almost  all  early  asper- 
ities have  been  smoothed  away  ;  but  tliey  have  not  been  equally 
removed  from  writing ;  and  this  is  one  chief  source  of  the  dif- 
ficulty of  reading,  to  learners,  and  of  spelling,  to  writers.  All 
the  elementary  sounds  will  be  correctly  pronounced,  almost  at 
first  effort,  by  any  person  to  whom  they  are  properly  exem- 
plified. The  vowels  in  a(n),  u(p),  a(ll),  and  the  consonants 
in  th(in),  th(en),  h(ue),  wh(y),  may,  perhaps,  need  a  few  repe- 
titions by  strange  organs,  to  render  them  facile.  The  only  real 
difficulty  to  speakers  of  other  languages  is  the  accent^  or  stress, 
which,  in  English,  is  always  placed  on  the  vowel  of  a  single  syl- 
lable in  a  word  or  phrase.  The  effect  of  this  habit  of  utter- 
ance is  rather  to  render  indefinite  the  sounds  of  allied  unaccented 
syllables,  than  to  give  force  to  the  accented  syllables.  This  fact 
must  be  borne  in  mind  by  foreign  learners.     The  true  effect  of 


23 

unaccented  vowels  will  be  produced  by  giving  such  letters  a  care- 
less approximation  to  their  ordinary  sounds.  Thus  a,  in  about, 
comma,  &c.,  is  not  precisely  either  a  or  a,  but — indefiniteness  of 
unaccented  sound  being  understood — the  vowel  does  not  require 
a  more  exact  orthography  than  '*  a."  In  such  words  as  between, 
receive,  secede,  the  same  vowel  occurs  in  both  syllables,  but  it 
will  always  be  heard  with  an  unwritten  difference,  being  less  pre- 
cise in  the  unaccented  than  in  the  accented  syllable.  The  termi- 
nations in  certain,  fountain,  foreign,  cottage,  courage,  language, 
college,  knowledge,  &c.,  are  regularly  contracted  to  -in,  -ij,  and 
are  so  printed  in  World-English.  Unaccented  A  finds  its  equiva- 
lent in  a  ;  unaccented  6  in  6  ;  unaccented  6  in  o  ;  and  unaccented 
u  in  u  ;  A  foreigner  may,  for  a  time,  be  more  or  less  unsuccess- 
ful in  acquiring  the  knack  of  accentual  pronunciation,  and  in 
giving  the  precise  quality  to  some  elementary  sound,  but  he  will 
have  no  difficulty  whatever  in  making  his  English  utterance  per- 
fectly intelligible.  It  may  still  proclaim  his  foreign  birth — as 
the  speech  of  those  born  to  the  language  proclaims  their  county 
or  their  State — but  it  will,  none  the  less,  be  good  English,  ser- 
viceable wherever  the  language  is  spoken. 

igglij?  saundz. 

4i  saundz  ov  cji  iggli^  l^Sgwij  hav  bin  sup5'zd  tu  be  difikult  ov 
enunsia'gun.  4i  o^^li  basis  foi  c}is  ]de'a  iz  c|i  fakt  43t  cji  saundz 

ai  difikult  ov  rekogni'^un  unden  c|i  fluktyiiatig  gjz  ov  oi^o'grafi. 
4us,  at  sjt  ov  an  unfami'lyan  wuid,  evn  a  praktist  reder  iz  unse'r- 
tin  haii  tii  prona'uns  it,  beko'z  c|i  sam  kombina'^unz  ov  leteiz  hav 
meni    diferent    saundz    in    fami'lyai   wuidz.  tii  a  forin  leinei 

(lis  difikulti    iz    insyu'perabl.  giv    definit   and   seitin    fone'tik 

valyuz  tu  leteiz,  and  igglig  uterans  wil  be  faund  tu  be,  in  no 
kas,  and  in  no  degre',  difikult  tu  nativ  oi  forinei. 

enunsia'gun  ov  iggli?  iz,  on  c|i  kontrari,  in  kompa'risun  wic]  c|at 
ov  ucjei  laggwijiz,  o^iga'nikali  ezi.  olmost  61  e^li  aspe'ritiz  hav 
bin  smu^d  awa',  but  4a  hav  not  bin  ekwoli   remii'vd  from  rjtig  ; 


24 

and  4Js  iz  wun  qef  sois  ov  <^i  difikulti  ov  redig,  tu  leineiz,  and 
ov  spelig,  tu  qteiz.  61  (|i  elime'ntari  saundz  wil  be  kore'ktli 
prona'unst,  olmost  at  feist  efout,  bj  eni  peisun  tu  hum  4^  ai 
propeili  egze^mplifid.  ^i  vauelz  in  an,  up,  61 ;  and  4i  kon- 

sonants  in  ^in,  4en,  qu,  \yi ;  ma,  petha'ps,  ned  a  fyu  repiti'punz 
bj  stranj  oiganz,  tu  rendei  ([em  fasil.  4^  o^^i  ^"^^1  difikulti  tu 
spekeiz  ov  u4ei  laggwijiz  iz  (\i  aksent^  oi  stres,  "vy^iq,  in  igglig, 
iz  olwaz  plast  on  4i  vauel  ov  a  siggl  silabl  in  a  wind  oi  fraz. 
4i  efe'kt  ov  4is  habit  ov  uterans  iz  ra4ei  tu  render  inde'finit  4i 
saundz  ov  alj'd  unakse'nted  silablz  4^^  tu  giv  fois  tu  akse'nted 
silablz.  4is  fakt  must  be  boin  in  mpd  bj  forin  leineiz.  4' 

trii  efe'kt  ov  unakse'nted  vauelz  wil  be  prodyii'st  bj  meili  givig 
suq  leteiz  a  kailes  aproksima'^un  tii  ^hx  oidinari  saundz.  4^8 

a,  in  about,  comma,  &c.,  iz  not  pres^'sli  e4ei  a  oi  a  ;  but — in- 
de'finitnes  ov  unakse'nted  saund  beig  undeistu'd — 4i  vauel  duz 
not  rekwj'r  a  mor  egza'kt  on^o'grafi  4ari  "  a."  in  suq  wuidz 
az  betw^e'n,  rese'v,  sese'd,  4i  sam  vauel  oku'iz  in  bo^  silablz,  but  it 
wil  61waz  be  heid  wi4  'in  unri'tn  diferens,  beig  les  press's  in  4i 
unakse'nted  4^^  in  4i  akse'nted  silabl.  4^  teimina'^unz  in  cer- 
tain, fountain,  foreign,  cottage,  courage,  language,  &c.,  ar  reg- 
yulaili  kontra'kted  tii  -in,  -ij,  and  ai  so  ritn  in  wuild-iggli^. 
unakse'nted  a  fjndz  its  ekwi'valent  in  a ;  unakse'nted  6  in  6  ;  un- 
akse'nted 6  in  o  ;  and  unakse'nted  u  in  u.  a  forinei  ma,  for  a 
tpn,  be  mor  oi  les  unsukse'sful  in  akwfrig  4'  nak  ov  akse'ntyual 
pronunsia'gun,  or  in  givig  its  pres2's  kwoliti  tu  sum  elime'ntari 
saund  ;  but  he  wil  hav  no  difikulti  \yote'vei  in  makig  hiz  igglig 
uterans  peifektli  inte'Iijibl.  it  ma  stil  prokla'm  hiz  forin  bei^ 
— az  4i  speq  ov  46z  bonn  tu  4'  kaggwij  prokla'mz  dai  kaunti  oi 
4ei  Stat — but  it  wil,  nun  4i  les,  be  gud  igglig,  setvisabl  xyai^e'vei 
4i  laggwij  iz  spoken. 

Universal  Language. 
The  idea  of  Universal  Language  has  always  been  a  fascinating 
one.     Bishop  John  Wilkins  gave  shape  to  it,  in  England,  in  his 


25 

"Philosophical  Language"  published  in  i66S.  This  most  in- 
genious scheme  included  a  system  of  ideographic  symbols, 
forming  a  "Real  Character,"  translatable  into  the  words  of  any 
language  ;  and  also  an  Alphabetic  method,  in  which  the  relations 
of  ideas  were  expressed  by  adding  significant  letters  as  prefixes 
or  suffixes  to  arbitrary  root-syllables.  Tlie  plan  was  too  elaborate 
for  popular  comprehension,  and  no  attempt  has  ever  been  made 
to  bring  either  of  its  forms  into  use. 

Recently,  a  scheme  in  some  i^espects  resembling  the  alphabetic 
method  of  Bishop  Wilkins,  has  been  brought  forward  under  the 
name  of  "  Volapiik."  This  system  is  said  to  have  been  favour- 
ably received  in  Germany,  and  elsewhere  in  Europe.  The  root- 
syllables  in  Volapiik  are  selected  from  the  w^ords  of  existing 
languages ;  and,  by  means  of  prefixed  or  postfixed  letters,  they 
are  made  to  express  distinctions  of  gender,  number,  case,  person, 
voice,  mood,  tense,  &c.  The  result  is  a  highly  inflected  lan- 
guage, involving  a  multitude  of  details  to  be  constantly  attended 
to,  and  requiring  the  user  to  be  an  expert  grammarian. 

If  these  are  the  models  on  which  a  universal  language  is  to  be 
built,  we  need  look  no  further  than  to  the  "Philosophical  Lan- 
guage" or  to  "Volapiik;"  but  a  speaker  of  English,  happilv 
emancipated  as  he  is  from  vexations  of  verbal  inflection,  re- 
pudiates the  models.  The  English  language  has  been,  itself, 
steadily  reaching  out  towards  universality.  It  has  covered  the 
North  American  continent  and  the  islands  of  the  antipodes.  It 
has  become  a  necessity  wherever  English  or  American  navigators 
penetrate.  India,  China,  and  Japan  are  teaching  it  in  their 
schools.  Commerce  has  invented  a  barl)arous  variety  of  it  as  a 
Port-language,  called  "  Pigeon-English;"  and,  but  for  want  of 
an  explicit  system  of  letters,  it  would,  long  ere  this,  have  fully 
filled  its  destined  place.  One  of  the  chief  qualifications  of  Eng- 
lish for  its  grand  future  is  that  its  learner  has  only  to  memorise 
■words ^  and  that  he  has  no  need  to  think,  or  know,  anything  of 


the  grammatical  subtleties  that  are  essential  to  the  use  of  the  arti- 
ficial languages. 

World-English  presents  the  English  language — made  intelligi- 
ble, equally,  to  all  readers — by  means  of  a  simple  and  consistent 
mode  of  writing.  The  supposed  necessity  for  a  new  Interna- 
tional language  will  be  entirely  superseded  by  furnishing  English 
with  this  alphabetic  passport  to  universal  acceptance. 

yimive'isal  laggwij. 

4i  ide'a  ov  yuniveWsal  laggwij  has  olwaz  bin  a  fasinatig  wun. 
bi^op  jon  wilkinz  gav  pap  tu  it,  in  iggland,  in  hiz  ''  filoso'fikal 
laggwij  "  publipt  in  1668.  cjis  most  inje'nius  skem  inklu'ded  a 

sistem  ov  jdeogra'fik  simbolz  foimig  a  "  real  karaktei,"  transla't- 
abl  intii  c}i  wuidz  ov  eni  laggwij  ;  and  olso  an  alfabe'tik  me^ud. 
in  \yiq  c[i  rela'punz  ov  jde'az  wer  ekspre'st  bj  adig  signi'fikant 
leteiz  az  prefiksiz  01  sufiksiz  tu  aibitrari  riit-silablz .  (\i  plan 

woz  tu  ela'borat  foi  popyulai  komprehe'npun,  and  no  ate'mt  haz 
evei  bin  mad  tii  brig  ecjer  ov  its  foimz  intii  yiis. 

resentli,  a  skem  in  sum  respe'kts  reze'mblig  4i  alfabe'tik  me^ud 
ov  bipop  wilkinz,  haz  bin  brot  foiwond  undei  (\i  nam  ov  "  vola- 
piik."  4is  sistem  iz  sed  tii  hav  bin  favurabli  rese'vd  injeimani, 

and   els>}^ar   in   yiirop.  4^   riit-silablz  in  volapiik  ar  sele'kted 

from  wuidz  ov  egzi'stig  laggwijiz  ;  and,  bj  menz  ov  prefikst  01 
postfikst  leteiz,  4^  ai  mad  tu  ekspre's  disti'gkjsunz  ov  jendei, 
numbei,  kas,  peisun,  vois,  mud,  tens,  &c.  4i  rezu'lt  iz  a  hjli 
infle'kted  laggwij,  invo'lvig  a  multityud  ov  detalz  tu  be  konstantli 
ate'nded  tii,  and  rekw^'rig  4i  yiizei  tii  be  an  ekspe'it  grama'rian. 

if  4ez  ai  4i  rnodelz  on  -vyiq  a  yuniveWsal  laggwij  iz  tu  be  bilt, 
we  ned  liik  no  fu"i4ei  (\i>-n  tii  di  "filoso'fikal  laggwij,"  01  tii 
"volapiik;"  but  a  speker  ov  iggliiS,  hapili  ema'nsipated  az  he  iz 
from  veksa'punz  ov  veibal  infle'kpun,  repyQ'diats  4i  modelz. 
igglig  haz  bin  itse'lf  stedili  reqig  aiit  toidz  yiiniveisa'liti.  it 
haz   kuveid   4i   noi^  ame'rikan  kontinent,  and   4i   llandz   ov  (\i 


27 

anti'podez.  it  haz  beku'm  a  nese'siti  \yare'ver  igglig  or  ame'ri- 
kan  navigatoiz  penitrat.  india,  qpia,  and  japa'n  ai  teqig  it  in 
(Jei  pkulz.  komeis  haz  inve'nted  a  baibarus  varj'eti  ov  it  az  a 

poit-laggwij,  kold  "  pijun-iggli^  ;"  and,  but  for  wont  ov  an  eks- 
pli'sit  sistem  ov  lete"iz,  it  wud,  log  iir  4is,  hav  fulli  fild  its  destind 
plas.  wun  ov   4^   ^^f   kwolifika\sunz   ov  igglig   for  its  grand 

fyutyur  iz  cjat  its  leinei  haz  onli  tii  memoriz  w^mdz,  and  ({at  he 
haz  no  ned  tu  ^igk,  oi  no,  eni^ig  ov  4i  grama'tikal  sutltiz  (^at  ar 
ese'n^al  tu  yus  ov  4i  aitifi'gal  laggwijiz. 

wuild-igglig  preze'nts  4i  iggli?  l^SS^U — ^^^  inte'HjibI,  ekwoli 
tii  61  redeiz — h\  menz  ov  a  simpl  and  konsi'stent  mod  ov  rjtig. 
4i  supo'zd  nese'siti  for  a  nyii  inteina'^unal  laggw^ij  wil  be  enti'ili 
syiipeise'ded  bj  fuinigig  igglig  wi4  4is  alfabe'tik  paspoit  tii  yuni- 
ve'isal  akse'ptans. 

Spelling  Reform. 

With  this  phonetic  system  of  World-English  to  remove  diffi- 
culties of  initiation  in  reading,  and  to  furnish  a  key  to  pronuncia- 
tion, there  will  be  less  need  for  striving  after  reform  in  ordinary 
spelling.  To  "  reform  it  altogether"  would  be  beyond  the  scope 
of  orthographic  reformers  generally ;  yet  nothing  less  than  this 
would  make  our  writing  phonetic.  Spelling  must  remain  a  sep- 
arate art,  pictorial  in  its  nature,  and  learned  chiefly  b}'  eye. 
Nevertheless,  many  changes  may  be  made  to  simplify  the  outlines 
of  words  and  render  them  more  easy  of  remembrance.  The 
silent  letter  in  the  terminations  -our,  -and  -ous,  for  exam^^le,  may 
with  advantage  be  omitted  ;  but,  unfortunately,  spelling  "  reform- 
ers" have  been  already  at  work  on  the  first  of  these  syllables,  and 
have  actually  omitted  the  spoken  letter  and  retained  the  silent 
one!  Thus,  favour,  labour,  vigour,  are,  in  America,  very  gen- 
erally written  favor,  labor,  vigor,  while  they  are  universally 
pronounced,  both  in  America  and  England,  favur,  labur,  vigur. 
Any  change  in  the  orthography  of  literary  English  ought  at  least 
to  be  phonetic.     Otherwise  spelling  should  be  let  alone. 


28 

spelig  refoim. 

wi4  4is  fone'tik  sistem  ov  wuild-igglig  tii  remu'v  difikultiz  ov 
inigia'pun  in  redig,  and  tii  fumig  a  ke  tii  pronunsia'gun,  4ei  wil 
be  les  ned  foi  stqvig  after  refo'im  in  oidinari  spelig.  tu  "  re- 

fo4m  it  oltuge'clei "  wiid  be  beyo'nd  ^i  skop  ov  oi^ogra'fik 
refo'imeiz  jenerali ;  yet  nu^ig  les  (|^n  (Jis  "wud  mak  aur  rjtig 
fone'tik.  spelig  must  rema'n  a  separat  art,  pikto'rial  in  its  nat- 

yur,  and  leind  qefli  bj  \.  neveicjile's,  meni  qanjiz  ma  be  mad 
tu  simplify  4.1  autlpz  ov  wuidz  and  render  ^em  mor  ezi  ov 
reme'mbrans.  4^  sjlent  letei  in  4i  teimina'gunz  -our  and  -ous, 

for  egza'mpl,  ma  wi4  adva'ntij  be  omi'ted  ;  but,  unfo'ityunatli, 
spelig  "  refo'imerz"  hav  bin  olre'di  at  wuik  on  4i  feist  ov  4ez 
silablz,  and  hav  aktyuali  omi'ted  4i  spoken  leter  and  reta'nd  4i 
sclent  w^un !  4^5,  favour,  labour,  vigour,  ar,  in  ame'rika,  veri 
jenerali  ritn  favor,  labor,  vigor,  \y"il  4^^  ^^  yiinive'isali  prona'inist, 
bo^  in  ame'rika  and  iggland,  favui,  labui,  vigui.  eni  qanj  in 

4i  oi^o'gi'afi  ov  literari  igglis  6t  at  lest  tu  be  fone'tik.  u4ei\yiz 
spelig  pud  be  let  alo'n. 

Phonetic  Rules. 

The  orthography  in  the  foregoing  illustrations  of  World-Eng- 
lish might  have  been  apparently  simplified  by  the  adoption  of  a 
few  phonetic  rules,  such  as  : 

I.  The  letters  e  and  o,  when  final  in  monosyllables,  are  always 
pronounced  long.  With  this  rule  the  words  me,  no,  &c.,  might 
be  simply  written  me,  no,  &c. 

II.  The  letter  e  before  r  in  the  same  syllable  is  always  pro- 
nounced e.  With  this  rule  the  words  hei,  feim,  ei^,  &c.,  might 
be  simply  written  hei,  feim,  ei^,  &c. 

III.  The  letters  au  are  always,  in  combination,  pronounced  au. 
With  this  rule  the  words  aiit,  uau,  &c.,  might  be  simply  written 
aut,  nau,  &c. 


29 

Such  rules  may  possiblj'  find  advocates.  Here  they  are  merely 
pointed  out.  The  exact  pronunciation  of  every  syllable  is,  pref- 
erably, indicated  throughout  the  illustrations  in  this  book,  so  that 
no  knowledge  beyond  that  of  tiie  alphabetic  elements  is  necessar}- 
to  enable  the  learner  to  read  tiic  words  with  accuracy. 


EPILOGUE 


Every  one  has  heard  of  the  butcher,  who,  after  a  long  search 
for  his  knife,  at  last  found  it  in  his  mouth.  So,  speakers  of  Eng- 
lish have  been  seeking  for  a  Universal  Language,  when  lo  !  it  is 
in  their  mouths  !  The  intelligibility  of  words  has  been  obscured 
by  a  dense  mist  of  letters.  This  is  now  dispersed  in  World- 
English  ;  and  the  language  stands  revealed, — beyond  comparison 
clear,  simple,  copious,  and  cosmopolitan, — the  fitting  tongue  of 
Humanity. 

epilog. 

everi  wun  haz  heid  ov  ^i  biiqei,  hii,  after  a  log  seiq  foi  hiz 
nif,  at  last  faund  it  in  hiz  mau^.  so,  spekeiz  ov  igglig  hav  bin 
sekig  for  a  yunive'isal  laggwij,  ^yen  15!  it  iz  in  (|ei  maucjz  ! 
cji  intelijibi'liti  ov  wuidz  haz  bin  obskyu'id  h\  a  dens  mist  ov 
leteiz.  4is  iz  naii  dispe'ist  in  wuild-iggli§  ;  and  <^i  laggwij 
standz  reve'ld — beyo'nd  kompa'risun  klei,  simpl,  kopius,  and  koz- 
mopo'litan — 4*  fitig  tug  ov  quma'niti. 


160738 


Printed  by  Gibson  Bros.,  Washington,  D.  C,  U.  S.  A. 


university  of  California 
SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  "-BRARY  FACILrO^ 

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